This document provides an overview of immigration records and resources for researching ancestors who immigrated to the United States. It discusses the major waves of immigration by ethnicity and time period. Key records discussed include ship passenger lists, naturalization records, and records from Ellis Island. Tips are provided for effective searching, such as using variant spellings and searching for other family members. The document recommends starting points and links to specific immigration record databases.

1. Overseas Ancestors:
How to Search Immigration Records
Jessica Hilburn
Historian, Benson Memorial Library
January 2019

2. Background of Immigration to the U.S.
● 1607 - Jamestown, Virginia - British & Indentured Servants
● 1620 - Plymouth, Massachusetts - English Puritans
● 1626 - NYC-area - Dutch
● 1600s - South - Spanish & French
● 1717-1775 - Frontier & Colonies - Quakers, Presbyterians, Scots-Irish, Africans
● 1790 - 3.9 million people: 2.5 million Brits, 750,000 Africans
● 1848 - U.S. takes New Mexico & California - 72,000 Mexicans
● 1850 - Census first asks birthplace
● 1850-1930 - Midwest - 5 million Germans, 4.5 million Irish, 3.5 million Brits
● 1880 - steam ships = young people, Southern Europe, Russia
○ 25 million Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks; 4 million Jews
● 1920s/30s - Polish, Catholics, Jews, Eastern Orthodox, Lebanese, Syrians

3. Immigration Stoppages & Exceptions
● 1875: Page Act aka Asian Exclusion Act (women)
● 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act (renewed 1892, 1902) (added men)
● 1891: immigration changes to federal purview
● 1917: literacy tests installed
● 1921: Emergency Quota Act - S.Europeans/Russians/Jews
● 1924: Immigration Act - “ ”
● 1945: War Brides Act
● 1948: Displaced Persons Act - 600,000 immigrants

4. Ancestry.com
● Most records for USA, Europe, North American
(~Australia, Canada)
○ USA many are by state
● 20th Century records have most detail
● Types of Records:
○ Departing Passenger & Crewlists, 1914-1966 - 7.8 million records
○ U.S. Select Crew Lists & Manifests, 1903-1962 - 2.4 million records
○ PA Federal Naturalization Records, 1795, 1931 - 899,000 records
○ Slave Manifests (New Orleans, LA), 1807-1860
○ NY Passenger & Crew Lists (includes Ellis Island & Castle Garden), 1820-1957 - 82.9 million records
○ Naturalization Records, 1840-1957 - 1.4 million records
○ Naturalization Index, 1794-1995 - 2.4 million records
● HOW TO SEARCH: birth date, place, name, immigration year - will give you
occupation, date, place of departure/arrival, spouse, children
○ Many records are multiple pages long, so be sure to click previous/next to check

5. Ancestry.com Examples

6. Naturalization & Citizenship
● Naturalization began in 1790 - state/local level until September 1906 when became a
federal responsibility
● Must be in USA 5 years to petition for naturalization
● 1790-1922 - women’s citizenship depended on husband
○ When he became a citizen, so did she & minor children (<21)
○ If American woman married in “alien”, she lost her citizenship
○ Married Women’s Act of 1922 - woman’s nationality separated from husband’s
■ 1936 could apply just to take oath, but only if marriage ended in death or divorce
■ 1940 could repatriate regardless of marital status

7. Naturalization & Citizenship
● “First Paper” = Declaration of Intent (2 years)
● “Second Paper” or “Final Paper” = Petition for Naturalization (5 years)
● Do not have to occur in same place
● More useful information in Declaration of Intent (includes imm. date)
● 1862: Army Veterans of War could petition without declaration after 1 year
● 1894: Extended to Navy & Marines
● 1918: WWI Veterans could petition without declaration
● National Archives has NO county-level naturalization records for PA
○ County naturalized should have these records, but don’t be surprised if they tell you they don’t

8. Naturalization Papers Examples: 1924

9. Ship Manifests/Passenger & Crew Lists Examples: 1880

10. Ship Manifests/Passenger & Crew Lists Examples: 1959

11. Passports Examples: 1918 & 1912

12. Castle Garden
● First immigration processing center
● Processed immigrants from 1855-1892
● 8 million people
castlegarden.org/searcher.php
1852

13. Castle Garden

14. Ellis Island
● Processed immigrants starting in 1892
● Peak years 1892-1924
● Spelling is terrible, so be vague
● Try lots of alternate spellings
● Online database has 65 million records
○ Will need free account to see whole records
https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger
1905

16. 1893

17. Undesirable
Immigrants
at Ellis
Island to be
Sent Home,
1902

18. Arriving at Ellis
Island near
Christmastime,
1906

19. Waiting to be
Transferred,
1912

20. Ellis Island,
Inspection of
Immigrants,
1913

21. Waiting to
Naturalize,
1916

22. National Archives
● Most records held there on microfilm - aka NOT ONLINE, no remote access
● CAN access some passenger lists online
○ Russians to U.S. 1834-1897
○ Irish Famine 1846-1851
○ Germans to U.S. 1850-1897
○ Italians to U.S. 1855-1900
aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=GP44

24. What You Should Know Before Searching
● First and last name
● Date of birth or immigration
● Place immigrating from or to
● Relatives names
If you do not know ALL of this information, that’s ok! - Name and birth year are most
important to narrow down and trace your specific ancestor.

25. TIPS
● Search for other family members
● Use alternative spellings or misspellings
● Use a broad time period
● Not all countries are listed in English
● Not all records are in English
● Ships went to many ports!
● Use asterisks for multiple spellings
○ Jo*n* = Jon, John, Jonathan, Johnathan
● If you don’t know the country of origin, try the census first

26. Resource Links
● Immigrant Servants/Indentured Servants Database - 20,000 entries
pricegen.com/immigrantservants/search/simple.php
● Stephen Morse Website with immigration links
Stevemorse.org
● Get confused? Try the FamilySearch immigration wiki for guidance!

28. QUESTIONS?